India's coal production grows 8.5% to 73 MT in Apr; despatch rise 11.66% to 80.35 MT: Coal Ministry

New Delhi: India's coal production rose by 8.5 per cent to 73.14 million tonnes (MT) during April 2023, according to the ministry of coal.

In April 2022, the country's overall coal production was at 67.20 MT, as per the ministry data.

India achieved 94.89 per cent of the 77.08 MT production target for April 2023, the data showed.

Coal India along with its subsidiaries produced 57.57 MT coal, up 7.67 per cent over 53.47 MT in April 2022.

The coal production of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) rose by 4.77 per cent to 5.57 MT, from 5.32 MT in the same month a year ago.

While the production from other captive mines was at 10 MT, against 8.41 MT in April 2022, registering a rise of 18.93 per cent.

Against the 82.26 MT target for April 2023, India's coal despatch was at 80.35 MT, up 11.66 per cent from 71.96 MT during April 2022.

The despatch to power utilities rose by 6.66 per cent to 65.41 MT last month, as compared to 61.33 MT in April last year.

India is among the top five coal-producing countries in the world. However, some parts of its coal requirement are met through imports as the country is also among the major consumers of the dry fuel.

For coking coal, the country remains heavily dependent on imports as the key steel making raw material is not available in the country in sufficient amounts.

India produced just 4.89 MT coking coal in April, 18.07 per cent higher from over 4.14 MT in April 2022.